P7J-989

Contents

Summary

P7J-989 was a planet that had suffered an apocolyptic chemical disaster, but since then turned into a vibrant garden world. The residents kept themselves safe in stasis while the planet revived with networked virtual reality machines controlled by the Keeper.

Stargate Glyphs

unknown

Geopolitical and Structural History

1,022 years ago, PJ7-989 suffered an ecological disaster due to the chemicals they used. As the Keeper later explained it to the team: "We were victims of our own technology advancing faster than we could control it. At that time, the few of us who were left placed our physical bodies in suspended animation." During all that time, the people remained in a type of stasis, keeping their minds active by being communally linked.

The Keeper controlled the virtual reality program. He was able to exit the program and knew that in the millenium that had passed, the environment had revived. A lush garden world was what enveloped the planet now. The Keeper, obsessed with not wanting the residents to despoil the planet again, never informed them that they could finally leave, and in fact disputed the fact when confronted with it.

SG-1 arrives on PJ7-989 for a recon mission. They came into the greenhouse and found the residents in virtual reality chairs. When they neared a set of empty ones, the chairs' tendrils reached out and snagged the team, forcing them into the virtual world as well. The naquadah in Teal'c's and Carter's blood prevented the Keeper from extracting memories from them, but he could have them share their teammates' memories. The Keeper selected strong memories from both Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson–moments of their lives they often wished they could relive and redo. For Jack, it was a mission with the worst intel that eventually caused the death of at least one friend. For Daniel, it was the death of his parents.

When SG-1 realized this environment was not real, they refused to cooperate in the scenarios. The Keeper was quite annoyed the team would not participate. As Daniel noted, the team was new software for the residents. "I mean, imagine if you were locked in a room for a thousand years with only a VCR, a TV and five movies. How long could you watch those five movies until you were bored silly? What you wouldn't give for just four more." SG-1 informed the residents who were their audience that the world was lush and safe again, but the Keeper made the residents leave.

The Keeper tried to trick SG-1 into believing they had escaped the chairs and gone back to the SGC, but that was just another virtual reality environment. The team caught onto the subterfuge relatively quickly. The residents in turn, tracked down SG-1 in the web of realities, wanting to learn more about their world. In a confrontation between the team and the Keeper, the team chased him through the false SGC only to find a marked exit where they finally escaped the virtual reality. As it turned out, the exits were always there, but the Keeper never informed anyone they were present. SG-1 revealed their existence, and the residents finally came out of the virtual reality to enjoy their beautiful world–to the Keeper's chagrin.

Earth stayed in touch with the people of P7J-989, who even gave some of their virtual reality chairs to the SGC for their own research. SGC scientists, including Bill Lee, worked to develop a virtual reality training scenario with the chairs (8.06 "Avatar"). When Teal'c got trapped inside the "virtual world", they contacted P7J-989 for advice. As it turned out, brain scans of all four of SG-1 were still available to the residents of P7J-989 and they provided copies for analysis and perhaps provide a way to save Teal'c.

The technology of the chairs was perfected, and was even transported (at least in part) to Atlantis when Col. Carter requisitioned one as a way to share dreams when a malicious crystal enemy attacked members of the expedition while they were sleeping (SGA 4.04 "Doppleganger"). The technology was instrumental in saving the lives of Doctor McKay and Lt. Col. Sheppard.